Multiple mode cellular telephones are becoming increasingly popular. Such cellular telephones typically provide a cellular telephone interface for communicating on the cellular telephone network, and an 802.11 wireless network interface.
The cellular telephone interface allows standard telephone connectivity through the cellular and public switched telephone networks. The 802.11 wireless network interface allows the user to access the Internet or corporate Intranet using the cell phone. In addition, it allows the user voice communication via a voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) over a packet network. This may be advantageous, for example, in the context of a corporate campus, in which using the cellular network would be considerably more expensive than using the local Intranet. However, even when allowing Internet access, cellular telephones typically provide a relatively awkward user interface.
Laptop computers are increasingly being provided with wireless network interface access cards as a default option. Such wireless network access interface cards typically employ a wireless local area network (LAN) protocol, such as one of the “flavors” of IEEE 802.11 (e.g., 802.11a/b/e/g). Using their laptops and such wireless network access interface cards, users can employ public wireless network access points, also known as “hot spots,” to access the Internet and private Intranets.
As can be appreciated, however, when either the laptop or the cellular telephone 802.11 interface is out of range of a hot spot, wireless network access cannot be accomplished.
As such, there is a need for an improved system and method for wireless network access.